Dynamo Kyiv defender Denys Popov shared his impressions after the 2:1 victory over Shakhtar Donetsk in the Ukrainian Cup Round of 16 which sent the team through to the next stage of the competition.
– Shakhtar players created a lot of problems for you today and both teams have a very tight schedule. How difficult was the match physically?
– It really wasn’t easy physically. Shakhtar caused us difficulties and, with both teams having a packed calendar, you could feel the fatigue. But we ran for the full 90 minutes, fought for every ball and got the result we needed.
– Why do you think Dynamo played two such contrasting halves?
– Maybe in the first half there was some nervousness and over-motivation on our part – we were too focused on not making a mistake. After we conceded early in the second half, we had no choice but to take risks, go all-in – and it paid off.
– What’s your opinion about Shakhtar’s bench reacting emotionally and constantly appealing to the referee?
– (smiles) I’d say what I think but those words shouldn’t be said out loud. I have my opinion but I’ll keep it to myself – you saw everything yourselves. We just calmly did our job and they can shout all they want.
– It’s noticeable that in every match against Shakhtar you give absolutely everything on the pitch and play with maximum emotion. How would you rate your own performance today?
– That’s hard for me to do. Sometimes everything goes perfectly – like in the match against Kryvbas – and other times it doesn’t. Maybe you didn’t sleep enough, maybe something just doesn’t click – that’s football, that’s life. So it’s up to the coach to evaluate my performance.
As for the “Clasico” against Shakhtar – those games are always special for us. I still remember when Shakhtar had big players – Marlos, Taison, Moraes. I learned from those matches and understood how important they were. That attitude has stayed with me to this day.
– You asked for a substitution near the end of the match. How are you feeling?
– I actually suffered a broken nose in the match against Kryvbas but the decision was made to include me today. Now I felt a strong headache again – we’ll see how it goes. If I feel okay, I’ll keep playing.
– Dynamo recently had a tough period with five consecutive draws but now you’ve beaten Kryvbas convincingly and knocked Shakhtar out of the Cup. Can we say things are improving?
– Every match is different but I really hope we’ve stepped onto a winning path now and will keep moving forward. We’ve got another match with Shakhtar coming up soon and we need to prepare for it very seriously – analyze everything in detail, know exactly how to act. Because, honestly, in the first half things didn’t work for us but after the break it all started to click.
